Former Congressman Mike Ross once received a perfect score from abortion opponents, but recent remarks ahead of a heated primary for Arkansas' governor's office are drawing fire from the right and the left.

When Ross entered the race last week, he portrayed himself as a defender of abortion rights and criticized legislators who passed abortion bans at 12 and 20 weeks into a pregnancy.

Ross supported a measure in Congress that would have banned most abortions in the District of Columbia 20 weeks into a pregnancy, but said Gov. Mike Beebe was right to veto a similar Arkansas ban. Ross said jobs in Congress and the Statehouse are different, and suggested his vote against abortion rights in Congress represented his district's views, not necessarily his own.